Rain Bombs + Science Utah: Understanding Extreme Rainfall

Join Clark Planetarium and PBS Utah for a special evening that goes beyond the screen. Combining powerful documentary storytelling with insights from a leading researcher, this collaborative event offers a unique opportunity to explore the science behind one of nature's most powerful forces.

Begin with the PBS documentary Rain Bombs, then stay for a live Science Utah Lecture with atmospheric scientist Dr. Gerald Mace. Drawing on satellite observations and climate science, Dr. Mace will explore how clouds and precipitation shape Earth's climate, the weather systems behind extreme rainfall events, and what this research reveals about our changing world.

Rain Bombs: An invisible, unpredictable atmospheric force is wreaking havoc across the globe, sinking superyachts and bringing down planes. Follow scientists as they race to understand these catastrophic weather events, exploring how they form, what causes their devastating impacts, and how we might someday learn to predict them. From high-tech simulations and drone expeditions into thunderclouds to possible links with climate change, join investigators on the cutting edge of research to discover what's truly behind these terrifying "rain bombs" and how we can protect ourselves from their growing power.

Trailer

GERALD G. (JAY) MACE is a Professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Utah. He joined the university in 1997 as an Assistant Professor and has advanced through the ranks to Associate Professor (2002–2008) and full Professor (2008–present). Dr. Mace's work centers on cloud and precipitation processes and his research uses satellite, airborne, and ground-based remote sensing data to diagnose those processes.